Studies Show Feminism Benefits Men

Maureen Dowd gives a long winding study to the eternal universal feeling that perhaps, women are getting unhappier and men happier ever since the advent of feminism (read, ‘I want a career, not children’). Her article makes for boring and whiny reading as most of her columns are and so, allow me to paraquote…

In the early 1970s, breaking out of the domestic cocoon, leaving their mothers’ circumscribed lives behind, young women felt exhilarated and bold. But the more women have achieved, the more they seem aggrieved. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women? According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans’ mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier. As Arianna Huffington points out in a blog post headlined The Sad, Shocking Truth About How Women Are Feeling: “It doesn’t matter what their marital status is, how much money they make, whether or not they have children, their ethnic background, or the country they live in. Women around the world are in a funk”. (The one exception is black women in America, who are a bit happier than they were in 1972, but still not as happy as black men which is another story)

When women stepped into male-dominated realms, they put more demands – and stress – on themselves. If they once judged themselves on looks, kids, hubbies, gardens and dinner parties, now they judge themselves on looks, kids, hubbies, gardens, dinner parties – and grad school, work, office deadlines and meshing a two-career marriage. Choice is inherently stressful. The more important things that are crowded into their lives, the less attention women are able to give to each thing. Add this to the fact that women are hormonally more complicated and biologically more vulnerable. Another daunting thing: America is more youth and looks obsessed than ever, with an array of expensive cosmetic procedures that allow women to be their own Frankenstein Barbies. There is a newfound abundance of choices, even if those choices end up making us unhappier. A paradox, indeed.

Phew! Thank God or more specifically, the Y Chromosome that I am a man for we can age in an attractive way while women are expected to replicate their 20s into their 60s. Greater prosperity has made men happier. And they are also relieved of bearing sole responsibility for their family finances. Men also tend to fare better romantically as time wears on. There are more widows than widowers, and men have an easier time getting younger mates. Who knew that being casual and unattached actually helps? It is so happy to be simple and more so, vice-versa.